Degreaser with two sumps



y 1944- w. D. PHILLIPS ETAL 2,349,000

DEGREASER WITH TWO SUMPS Filed Feb. 15, 1943 Patented May 16, 1944 DEGREASER WITH TWO SUMPS Willard'D. Phillips and Ralph A. Van Fossen, Chicago, Ill., assignors to John M. Bash, Chicago,

Application February 15, 1943, Serial No. 475,914

6 Claims.

This application is acontinuation-in-part of our co-pending application 351,018, filed August 3, 1940. This invention relates to a degreasing apparatus and particularly to a new and improved degreasing cabinet having certain inherent advantages not contemplated in the prior art. One of the particular objects of the invention is to provide a degreasing cabinet with a new and novel mechanical design wherein a cabinet of comparatively small size and weight is arranged to include a relatively large vapor treating chamber adapted to handle large and heavy machinery.

The object of this invention is to provide a degreasing cabinet adapted for continuous, and simultaneous filtration and redistillation of the solvent, including a marginal outer condenser separated from the work treating chamber and dual vaporizing sumps interconnected with the work treating chamber and the marginal condensing surfaces respectively.

Referringnow to the drawing in which Fig. l is a longitudinal sectional view through a degreasing cabinet constructed in accordance with the principles of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially on the plane of the line 2-2 in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view of one of the four wall sections of the cabinet illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2.

The degreasing cabinet illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 comprises a unitary structure consisting of four similar vertical wall plates ii l2, l3 and- It preferably formed of heavy sheet metal ma= terial and welded to' each other at each of the four corners of the rectangular cabinet. It is contemplated that the walls H, I2, i3, It may be formed of comparatively heavy iron or steel plates, but to provide maximum durability and strength it has been found advisable to provide a reinforced upper rim portion capable of withstanding great physical impact. In this connection it may be well to point out that the cabinets here illustrated are of a size suflicient to accommodate quite large and heavy castings, as for example, the main castings on large engines, and that these castings are usually placed in the chamber by means of a crane or other hoist because of their great mass and weight. In high speed production it is not an infrequent occurrence for such a casting to be lowered inaccurately or otherwise caused to strike the upper rim of the degreasing cabinet with a great impact. It is desired, therefore, to form the tively resist such blows and to this end we prefer to fold each of the metal wall plates ll, I2, l3 and I4 inwardly at their upper edge to provide a horizontal top portion l5, thence downwardly to provide a portion 16 and an inclined portion I'I joining the lower extremity of the portion IS with the vertical surface of the outer wall.

- zontal floor section 24.

The lower edge of the inclined portion H is preferably welded to the wall along the weld l8, but it-is to be particularly noted that this welded joint is remote from the upper rim of the cabinet and very well protected against accidental impact and that the exposed corners 2!, 22 and 23 are bent or folded portions of the wall plates capable of withstanding great physical shock without danger of separation. When constructed in this manner the upper rims of the degreasing cabinet possess unusually great inherent strength and are well adapted to resist physical shock or impacts, and in addition the upper rim of the cabinet comprises a hollow chamber adapted to be used as a solvent reservoir or air cooled condenser, as will appear hereinafter.

At the lower extremity of the wall plates El, l2, l3 and it each plate is bent inwardly to form a substantially horizontal bottom portion 2i extending partially across the floor of the cabinet and is then bent upwardly to provide a short marginal upstanding flange 25 between the horizontal portions 24! of the cabinet floor and a central vaporizing sump 28. From the foregoing description it will be seen that each of the wall plates is formed to include an upper rim of hollow configuration and -a lower hori- The opposite ends of the four wall plates ll, l2, l3 and M are then cut at an angle or mitred at each end, as illustrated in Fig. 3, so that they may be assembled by welding the entire length of the end edges 21 and 28 to the corresponding edges of the other wall plates of the cabinet. This arrangement possesses certain inherent advantages as far as physical strength is concerned since the only welded joints are along the weld l8 and the are preferably welded to each corner of the cabinet.

It has been pointed out that one of the objects' of the present invention is to provide a mechanism adapted to be operated continuously upper rim of the cabinet in a manner to effecwithout the necessity of interrupting the opera tion to clean the sumps or purify the solvents as has been necessary with prior art apparatus. This desirable result is accomplished in the structures illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3, inclusive, by providing a plurality of vaporizing sumps arranged so that the impurities removed from the work-are directed into one sump and a constant supply of pure distilled solvent is directed into the other. By this arrangement, it is possible to interrupt the operation of the sump into which the impurities of the work have been directed and to drain the adulterated solvent from this sump while maintaining a continuous supply of vapor in the vapor chamber by means of the second vaporizing sump. It is contemplated, of course, that desirable results may be obtained by utilizing two vaporizing sumps, each of which is arranged to receive impurities from the work and to maintain continuous operation by alternatively draining each of these sumps, but it has been found preferable to direct all the impurities from the work into one sump and thus eliminate the necessity of draining the other sump at any time.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 2 the desired resuit is accomplished by providing a, relativelylarge pure solvent by means of a solvent duct M and a smaller adulterated solvent vaporizing sump l5 interconnected-with the vapor treating area 16 by means of an orifice Tl formed under the bafiie plate 18. A baflle plate 18 is provided in the vapor treating chamber to prevent impurities from the work from entering the pure solvent sump l2 and to direct these impurities through the orifice 51 into a conventional form of removable bag filter 19. The removable bag may be withdrawn from the filter by means of the quick opening closure 79'. It will be appreciated that any metal chips, shavings and other insoluble matter will be gathered in the filter bag, and may thus be quickly removed to permit continued operation of the degreaser. It has been found that metal chips, shavings, etc., are particularl bad in clogging up the sumps and thus the addition of our filter eliminates most of these difficulties; The filtered solvent enters the sump through the tube 35. Entry of the solvent into the filter I9 is controlled by a valve 36.

In order to provide the filtering operation in a closed pressure system, we arrange to lock the dual lids 6| onto the cabinet II, and t aec0m plish this, we provide coacting pins 3| and openings 32 in the outer flanges of the lids and hinged handles 33 and latches 34 on the inner edges of the lids 6|. It will be appreciated that when in closed position, the lid is locked securely on the cabinet II, and thus pressure may be generated Within the degreasing cabinet with the dirty solvent going through the filter 19.

By the foregoing construction, it will be appreciated that we have provided a dual sump structure wherein the condensed and distilled solvent is returned to the large outer sump 12 for recirculation of vapor while the dirtier solvent is filtered of all insoluble materials and returned to the inner sump 15. This arrangement and structure permits long continuous periods of operation without the necessity of interrupting the operation to clean the sumps or to purify the solvents as has been necessary with the prior art apparatus. A sump drain, arranged to draw off solvent contamination to any desired level is provided for the sump 15, by the adjustable drain tube 80 and the valve 8|.

We claim:

1. In a degreasing apparatus, a chest having a hollow upper rim adapted to act as a condenser, spaced inner walls within the chest below the hollow rim forming an inner vapor treating chamber and an outer condenser trap, a pair oi vaporizing sumps mounted in the bottom of the treating chamber, a shed cover over the sumps to prevent dirty solvents from falling into the sumps while permitting vapors from the sumps to enter the treating chamber, a dirty solvent trap in the bottom oi the treating chamber, means to deliver clean solvent from the condenser trap to one vaporizer, and means to deliver dirty solvent to the other vaporizer.

2. In a degreasing apparatus, a chest having condenser means mounted adjacent its upper rim, spaced inner walls within the chest below the hollow rim forming an inner vapor treating chamber and an outer condenser trap, a pair of vaporizing sumps mounted in the bottom of the treating chamber, a shed cover over the sumps to prevent dirty solvents from falling into the sumps while permitting vapors from the sumps to enter the treating chamber, a dirt solvent trap in the bottom of the treating chamber, means to deliver clean solvent from the condenser trap to one vaporizer, and means to deliver dirty solvent to the other vaporizer.

3. In a 'degreasing apparatus, a chest having condenser means mounted adjacent its upper rim, spaced inner walls within the chest below the hollow rim forming an inner vapor treating chamber and an outer condenser trap, a pair of vaporizing sumps mounted in the bottom of the treating chamber, a shed cover over the sumps to prevent dirty solvents from falling into the sumps while permitting vapors from the sumps to enter the treating chamber, a, dirty solvent trap in the bottom of the treating chamber, means to deliver clean solvent from the condenser trap to one vaporizor, means to deliver dirty solvent to the other vaporizer, and means to drain and clean the dirty solvent vaporizer while-permitting continued operation of the degreaser by the clean solvent vaporizer.

4. In a degreasing apparatus, a chest having a hollow upper rim adapted to act as a condenser, means toadapt the hollow rim to serve as a solvent reservoir, spaced inner walls within the chest below the hollow rim forming an inner vapor treating chamber and an outer condenser trap, a pair of vaporizing sumps mounted in the bottom of the treating chamber, a shed cover over the sumps to prevent dirty solvents from falling into the sumps while permitting vapors from the sumps to enter the treating chamber, a dirty solvent trap in the bottom of the treating chamber, means to deliver clean solvent from the condenser trap to one vaporizer, and means to deliver dirty solvent to the other vaporizer.

5. In a degreasing apparatus, a chest having a hollow upper rim adapted to act as a condenser,

cover means for the chest lockable thereon to create vapor pressure in the treatment chamber, spaced inner walls within the chest below the hollow rim forming an inner vapor treating chamber and an outer condenser trap, a pair of vaporizing sumps mounted in the bottom of the treating chamber, a shed cover over the sumps to prevent dirty solvents from falling into thesumps while permitting vapors from the sumps to enter the treating chamber, a dirty solvent trap in the bottom of the treating chamber, means to detreating chamber, a shed cover over the sumps to prevent dirty solvents from falling into the sumps while permitting vapors from the sumps to enter the treating chamber, a dirty solvent trap in the bottom of the treating chamber, means to deliver clean solvent from the condenser trap to one vaporizer, means to deliver dirty solvent to the other vaporizer, and filter means connected between the dlrty solvent trap and the second vaporizer to remove impurities from the solvent.

WILLARD D. PHILLIPS. RALPH A. VAN FOSSEN. 

